百分之九十 (bǎi fēn zhī jiǔ shí) — ninety percent

Definition

A precise percentage meaning exactly 90 out of 100 — use it for stats, pass rates, and proportions rather than vague words like 大部分 ("most").

numeral
ninety percent

Examples

  • 百分之九十。
    Xué shēng de kǎo shì jí gé lǜ dá dào le bǎi fēn zhī jiǔ shí.
    The student exam pass rate reached 90 percent.
  • 百分之九十。
    bǎi fēn zhī jiǔ shí De kè hù duì fú wù biǎo shì mǎn yì.
    Ninety percent of customers expressed satisfaction with the service.
  • 百分之九十。
    Gōng sī jīn nián wán chéng le bǎi fēn zhī jiǔ shí de xiāo shòu mù biāo.
    The company achieved 90 percent of its sales target this year.

Origin

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
一一yī
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái百bǎi
Same sound today

百 combines 一, which carries the number meaning, with 白, which provides the sound.

Open 百 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

分 pairs 八 (to separate) with 刀 (knife), showing something cut apart with a knife.

Open 分 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The shape pairs 止, a foot, with 一, a beginning place, and means to go.

Open 之 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape comes from a stylized hand bent at the wrist, with the lower-right hook showing the bend. Later, it was taken to show a tightened fist bumping up to ten, giving the number nine.

Open 九 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The early shape 十 was mostly a single vertical stroke, sometimes with a dot, and later gained a horizontal stroke to form a cross. For the number ten, it marked the next digit above one.

Open 十 →

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